MinneCulture

For our Season 3 finale, stories about the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson. You'll hear from the guy credited with "discovering" Prince, what it was like to get phone calls from Prince at 3 a.m., and we take of tour of "Purple Places" that mark Prince's roots in North Minneapolis. This episode was produced by KFAI’s Nancy Rosenbaum. Support for MinneCulture comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

There are often parts of a job no one else understands or even knows about. We're talking about the unheralded tasks that are executed in the shadows, after hours, void of glory. On this episode, we meet two Minnesotans, an elementary school principal and the CEO of a hip-hop record label, each fulfilling the last line of their job description: "Other Duties As Assigned."

Minnesota's oldest auctioneer reflects on rural life, the Kim Loo Sisters face discrimination in the jazz scene during the 1930s and 1940s, and a rusticly bunking historian sheds light on the history of slavery in Minnesota. The episode was produced by KFAI's Emily Bright.

For some artists, sickness can fuel their creativity. But for others, illness can drain the inspiration right out of them. In this episode, musician P.O.S and radio producer Katie Thornton discuss the ways chronic illnesses has affected their lives. This episode was produced by KFAI's Sophie Nikitas.

In this episode, we meet Minnesota musicians that take old music, and put their own twist on it. Host Jumondeh Tweh goes backstage at a Saint Paul jazz club with Debbie Duncan who’s known as the Twin Cities’ “First Lady of Song.” We travel to South Minneapolis, where Minnesota’s oldest African American drum corps is keeping an old musical tradition alive. And we hear from some passionate classical musicians at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra about the album that won them a Grammy in 2018.

Immigrants are spicing up Minnesota food. In this episode of the MinneCulture podcast, host Jumondeh Tweh gets cooking tips from his Liberian mother and listens in on stories about Hmong and Somali food. KFAI's Emily Bright produced this delicious audio treat.

In Minnesota, freezing winters and big snowfalls come with the territory. But three feet of snow on Halloween? That was a day to remember. In the premiere of Season 3, Jumondeh Tweh plays a documentary produced by Britt Aamodt about the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, which remains one of the largest and most memorable storms in Minnesota history.

Fresh Fruit is the longest running queer radio program in the US. It has aired on KFAI Community Radio in Minneapolis, Minn. for over 40 years. MinneCulture host Jumondeh Tweh speaks with KFAI’s Dixie Treichel, who produced a radio documentary on this legendary radio show, tracking down former hosts and gathering the history of Fresh Fruit.

It wouldn’t be a Minnesota podcast if we didn’t take you outside. It’s cold outside, baby, with rabid Minnesota Wild fans and anglers who won’t let a little ice get in their way. The MinneCulture crew bundles up and hits the ice to tell the unfrozen stories of the cold, bold North.

Despite the sizable Somali community in Minneapolis, Somali art hasn’t broken through to the mainstream. Known as a “nation of poets,” those who seek out the oral traditions of Somalia through poetry and music are greatly rewarded. Meet Nimo Farah, a Somali poet and activist, who is working to keep Somali oral traditions alive in America. In this episode, you’ll hear from Somali poets—in both English and Somali. We also bring you the music Dalmar Yare, a big deal musician in the Somali community where he’s highly sought after to sing at weddings and other social celebrations.